The following quote from a local Sydney newspaper got me thinking about this question ...

“Walking through the waiting room of our busy psychology clinic this morning, I heard three families swapping stories about their Earth Hour experiences.

One described the fun they had turning off the TV, PlayStation and stereo and playing an old-fashioned game of charades by candlelight. Another described the challenge of playing cards by candlelight with six children. One mother mused on how nice it was to simply sit and talk as a family.

Of course, there was also discussion about the good Earth Hour did to draw awareness to the challenges facing a warming planet, but I couldn’t help wondering if it wasn’t doing a little more immediate good as a rare opportunity for families to turn off the distractions and enjoy and hour communicating with one another.

Perhaps we should organize a regular Family Hour”

Lots to ponder here. Perhaps more Family Group functions with activities as mentioned above.

The Family Group I belong to from St. Anthony in the Fields, Terrey Hills NSW recently held a simple games afternoon (board games, not the sporting games) at our church followed by soup and bread rolls on a cold winter’s afternoon. All 26 who attended proclaimed it highly successful and we hope to repeat it more often.

We also enjoyed our first Family Group Earth Hour in March 2008 during our weekend away at Gerringong. After a delicious meal by candlelight, our entire group stumbled along in the dark to the local cemetery! For all intents and purposes it could have been Halloween! Though we did have a hard time finding any real ghosts in spite of some howling that went on with the more youthful members!

Earth Hour – highly recommended for all Family Groups to grab at least one hour of old fashioned family togetherness.